Chapter 5:
Run
IT HAD BEEN THREE DAYS since Kaoru and I met for lunch at the café. I was sitting on my bed, hugging my knees to my chest and fiddling with my cell phone. My palms were sweating a bit despite the AC, perhaps a sign that I was more nervous than I realized. I opened my address book and scrolled down to Kaoru’s name, then took a deep breath.
“…Come on. You can do this.”
I pressed the call button. Then I waited.
Three days prior, I’d purchased the latest issue of Giorno Monthly from the local bookstore first thing in the morning and learned that I’d lost the spring competition. Though in all honesty, I had no delusions about my work being award-worthy to begin with, so it wasn’t a huge letdown. In a way, it came as a small relief, allowing me to shift my focus and devote myself fully to the Urashima Tunnel expedition with no lingering doubts.
Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from someone who introduced themselves as an editor for the magazine. After briefly verifying my credentials, he offered his condolences to me for not winning the contest but said that he had felt “a spark of something” in my work. It wasn’t the most specific appraisal, to be sure, yet it made me do a stupid little happy dance. That emotional high didn’t last long, as he proceeded to rattle off a laundry list of ways in which my submission was sorely lacking. You can’t do X, you should’ve done Y for this part, why in the world didn’t you do Z, et cetera. I tried my best to answer his questions, discombobulated though I was, and in the end he suggested we meet up in person sometime to discuss specifics, then hung up. The phone call lasted more than thirty minutes, yet for me, it felt like the blink of an eye.
Then it hit me: I had a choice to make. Would I pursue this new opportunity and work toward creating manga professionally, or would I go into the Urashima Tunnel to seek a greater purpose in life regardless? It was a difficult conundrum, to be sure. After going back and forth in my head over and over to no avail, I decided to look to Kaoru for guidance. That didn’t help either, unfortunately. All it did was postpone the expedition, and now I was extra determined to come to a final decision before I delayed him any further. I spent every waking hour deliberating with myself. Three days later, on the morning of August 4th, I finally made up my mind.
I would venture into the Urashima Tunnel after all. I couldn’t leave Kaoru in the lurch. I jumped into action. First, I called the editor and let him know I really appreciated the offer but that I had to respectfully decline due to personal reasons. I was prepared to have to explain myself a fair bit, but he just said “okay” without asking why. I was grateful that the call went smoothly, though it made me wonder if he’d been feeding me a line with all that talk about my “potential,” which was a pretty crappy feeling, to be honest. At least now I had nothing left to have misgivings about. I wanted to share this news with Kaoru as soon as possible, so I took a deep breath and dialed him up. But then…
“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Either it has been disconnected or it is somewhere beyond the reach of its local service provider.”
So either his cell phone was dead or he was out of range. Given how terrible cell service generally was in Kozaki, I tended to assume it was the latter. My phone had lost signal while I was riding the bus down the main drag, so it wasn’t all that uncommon. Yet for whatever reason, I felt unusually apprehensive. I waited three minutes, then dialed again.
“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Either it has been disconnected—”
I waited another three minutes.
“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Either—”
I waited thirty.
“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed—”
I stood from my bed. No way. He wouldn’t. Worst-case scenarios oozed one by one from my brain, slowly filling my head with a flood of doubts. The pit of my stomach tightened as each breath grew shallower than the last. I called Koharu as fast as I could.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Kawasaki? Do you know where Tono-kun’s house is? If so, could you tell me?”
“Huh? Yeah, I know where he lives. Why do you ask?”
“Sorry, can’t explain right now. Could you just tell me? It’s extremely time sensitive.”
“S-sure, no problem. Uhhh, I guess I’ll text you his address, and you can go from there?”
“Cool, thanks.”
I hung up, and the follow-up text from Koharu came pretty quickly. It had Kaoru’s address, as well as a line underneath saying she was worried about me and that we should talk soon. I hated not offering her more of an explanation, but I really didn’t have time. I grabbed my wallet, slipped on my sandals in the entryway, and dashed out the front door. As I ran down the hallway of the condominium, I checked my phone to see when the next train to the station by Kaoru’s house would run. Looked like at least an hour. God, I hate living in the sticks.
I grabbed my bike from the bike lot and straddled one leg over it, then sped off in the direction of Kaoru’s neighborhood. It was a straight shot for a while, followed by a steep uphill climb. While I was generally quite confident in my athletic abilities, these hilly country roads could be pretty grueling at times. The uneven pavement slowly wore away my stamina, and sweat poured down my entire body. My hair refused to stay out of my eyes as I pedaled up the steep incline. When I finally reached the top, I could see all the way across the open ocean. It was a gorgeous view, but I had no time to enjoy it, so I bombed down the opposite side of the hill. After passing an old fire station with a worn, red emergency light over the garage, I spotted a big old-fashioned house. That was the place.
I parked my bike at the edge of the property and put down the kickstand, then ran to ring the bell. After about a minute of waiting, an older gentleman answered the door with one hand while scratching his lower back with the other. I assumed this was Kaoru’s father, though the two looked absolutely nothing alike.
“Hi there… Can I help you?” he asked.
“Hello, sir. I’m Ton… I’m one of your son’s classmates. Is he around?”
The man ceased his back-scratching and gave me a suspicious look.
“No… I’m afraid he’s out of the house at the moment.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“Uhhh… Since day before yesterday, I think?”
I felt the blood drain from my face. In its place came another wave of anxiety and urgency. “Where did he go?! Please, you have to tell me!”
“Hell if I know. Figured he’s staying the night at a friend’s house. He’s been doing that an awful lot lately.”
“…All right. Thank you for your help, sir.” I bowed quickly before dashing back to hop on my bike once more. If he’s been gone for two days, that can only mean one thing… I tried my best to shake that harrowing thought from my mind. There was no point in stressing myself out even more. I just had to hurry. And pray.